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Endurance

Endurance and the young athlete

Brian J Grasso explains the factors to be considered with respect
to the development of endurance in a young athlete

Endurance training and young athletes is an often-misunderstood
topic. On one hand, there are strength coaches who tend to disregard
developmentally sound elements of endurance training in lieu of producing
stronger and faster athletes via strength and power type exercises exclusively.
On the other hand, there are over-zealous coaches and trainers who equate
endurance to long distance/duration activities, often with little regard for
the athlete's stage of development, ability or current level of conditioning.

What is endurance?

Endurance can be defined quite simply as one's ability to
withstand fatigue or the ability to control the functional aptitude of movement
in lieu of external stress. The latter definition lends itself well to the
concept of athletic development and training young athletes. As I have stated
many times in both print and lecture, when working with youngsters, the key
ingredient to producing a successful training program is the ability to
recognize that quality of execution is profoundly more important than quantity.
Having said that, I still see coaches, trainers and parents opting for more
difficult training sessions that include high volume or high intensity
activities rather than concerning themselves with how correctly the exercise is
being performed. Poor execution results in habitual patterns that are difficult
to break and could result in injury. With respect to endurance training, proper
mechanics are often compromised for higher volumes or intensities and this is
very much a mistake.

One thing to consider is that the term 'endurance' has
application to varying lengths and types of effort:

Long slow distances - efforts of limited intensity but
high distance or time

Speed - efforts typically lasting 15 to 45 seconds with
high levels of intensity but obviously limited time or distance

Muscular - the ability to sustain a muscular contraction
for a prolonged period of time

There are several factors to consider with respect to the
development of endurance in a young athlete:

Mechanical/Coordination/Movement

Efficiency of movement is a paramount factor with respect to
the endurance capabilities of a young athlete. Poor mechanics (which are only
reinforced with repetitive training) lead to higher degrees of fatigue. To
truly increase the ability of a young athlete (in all facets), coaches and
trainers must exercise patience and teach proper movement habits rather than
prescribe endless numbers of sets. A critical point here is that by perfecting
technique, you can effectively improve endurance without increasing training
volume.

Body Type

The more overweight a young athlete is, the less endurance they
will likely have. Excess bodyweight (particularly in the form of body fat) will
serve to decrease endurance due to an increased energy cost. Additionally,
being overweight often leads to poor mechanical efficiency. According to Joseph
Drabik, "each 5% of excess weight penalizes a child approximately 89 meters in
a 12 minute run test". Conversely, "in a 10 mile run, each kilogram reduction
of body mass improves performance by 30 seconds". Drabik did not indicate how
bodyweight was determined to be excessive.

Psychological

Many young athletes do not poses significant amounts of mental
toughness (but they are kids so why would they?). To combat this, many over
anxious trainers and coaches opt to make drills and exercises purposefully
difficult in order to produce some sort of perceived mental strength. Given
that both the physical structure as well as mental potency of youngsters is
tenuous, this often leads to little more than burnout or injury. A more prudent
approach to this factor is to systematically present challenges to young
athletes that respect their individuality as well as the stage of development
they are in and offers positive feedback at the conclusion. By offering
challenging yet achievable forms of exercise, you will progressively improve
their endurance and develop their self confidence to attempt new and more
challenging things.

It is important to understand that endurance training with young
athletes is critical for long-term development and not immediate results.
Developing good endurance allows the young athlete to tolerate an increased
amount of exercise stimulus in the future and this alone is the key point. Do
not become pre-occupied with immediate effects. Like any other aspect of
athletic development, endurance training is part of a continual, multi-tiered
effort.

Developmentally speaking, from the ages of 3 to 7, general
endurance increases due to the typical activity level of kids in this age range
(which has become a crucial issue of our time - kids do not 'play' as much as
they used to, and this fact has a potentially damaging effect on their future
athletic abilities and conditioning). For young males, endurance increases are
best seen between the ages of 8 to 11 and then again between 15 and 16. For
young females, increases are shown best between the ages of 8 to 10. After the
age of 13, endurance capabilities of young women stagnate and actually regress.
These numbers illustrate that the young female sensitive period for endurance
development is shorter than it is with young males. Because of this, young
females should begin their endurance training at a younger age than should
young males.

Training Programs

There are several key points to remember when designing
endurance-based training programs for young athletes. The most crucial aspect
is to always start with a broad aerobic base. This will serve to raise the anaerobic threshold of the young athlete (delay needing to use anaerobic
sources of energy during activity) and allow them to tolerate increased loads
in the future.

Begin this aerobic-base phase however, with low to moderate
volumes. Children, although physiologically more fit than the average adult,
still must begin their training programs gradually, working up to longer
durations and higher intensities. As typical with the entire athletic
development science, it is advisable that you alter the stimulus of endurance
training you do with young athletes. Think in terms of seasonal activities. In
the summer, enjoy swimming; in the autumn, change to hiking or cycling; in the
winter, offer stimulus such as snow-shoeing or cross country skiing.

Notice how the suggestions are movement based activities and
NOT going to the gym to run on a treadmill! In our fixation for 'the perfect
body', it seems we have forgotten how important movement and coordination-based
activities are for young athletes. Do not train kids on single function pieces
of fitness equipment. Understand that there is a definitive crossover with all
exercise stimulus and young athletes. Yes snow-shoeing is a perfect
endurance building exercise for young athletes, but it also involves
coordination and skill - IDEAL for the young, developing athlete.

Training Loads

Another key factor is training load increases. Coaches, parents
and trainers must remember that increases in volume or duration must precede
increases in intensity. In short, make things longer before you make them
harder. Lastly, wonderful progress can be made by altering the surface the
young athlete is performing their endurance training on. For instance, if you
are incorporating long walks or jogs into your training program, switch the
training surface periodically to add variety and improve progress; sand,
shallow water, forest trails, pool. Quick point of reference - by jogging or
walking on sand, forest trails or shallow water, you will also add to lower
compartment strength and stability. Ankle proprioceptors, picking up varying
degrees of balance-point change, will become stronger and more efficient.

Article Reference

Page Reference

If you quote information from this page in your work then the reference for this page is:

GRASSO, B. (2004) Endurance and the young athlete [WWW] Available from: https://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/scni16a1.htm [Accessed

About the Author

Brian Grasso is the President of Developing Athletics which is a
company dedicated to educating coaches, parents and youth sporting officials
throughout the world on the concepts of athletic development. Brian can be contacted through his website at www.DevelopingAthletics.com

Related Pages

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